iOS – Fortunehttp://fortune.com
Fortune 500 Daily & Breaking Business NewsFri, 09 Dec 2016 13:32:19 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/http://1.gravatar.com/blavatar/dab01945b542bffb69b4f700d7a35f8f?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.pngiOS – Fortunehttp://fortune.com
Fortunehttps://s0.wp.com/wp-content/themes/vip/fortune/assets/images/fortunelogo.pnghttp://fortune.com25040Apple Has a Secret Weapon in Its Battle With Google Mapshttp://fortune.com/2016/12/01/apple-google-maps-drone/
http://fortune.com/2016/12/01/apple-google-maps-drone/#respondThu, 01 Dec 2016 16:13:24 +0000http://fortune.com/?p=1871854]]>Apple is hoping drones can help the company compete more effectively against Google Maps, according to a new report.

The tech giant is building a team that will use drones to fly overhead and capture critical street information, including signs and traffic changes, Bloomberg is reporting, citing sources who claim to have knowledge of its plans. Apple has secured approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to use drones to capture photos, videos, and other traffic data, the report says.

Drone capture could prove important to Apple AAPL as it works to improve its Maps application running on iOS and macOS devices. After capturing the data from streets both in the U.S. and abroad, it can then be transmitted back to Apple’s team and its information uploaded to the Apple Maps servers, according to Bloomberg. Users, then, would get far more useful and recent data. The drones would replace the minivans it currently uses to collect similar data.

Apple Maps was released in 2012 as a replacement to Google Maps on iOS. Soon after its release, however, the app, which comes bundled with Apple’s operating systems, was criticized for having inaccurate information and poor driving directions. Apple CEO Tim Cook ultimately apologized for Apple Maps and suggested users try out other options, like the Google Maps that had previously been bundled with Apple’s mobile operating system.

Since then, Apple has made strides towards improving the app’s accuracy and data and has added more information, including traffic and transit data. Still, Apple Maps is generally believed to be inferior to Google Maps, which comes with accurate data and other key features, like a Street View option that lets users see images of addresses.

In addition to getting better data more quickly to Apple Maps with drones, the company is also trying to improve its mapping service’s navigation and is eyeing ways to take images of the inside of buildings, according to Bloomberg. That feature would let users explore airports, museums, and other public places without actually visiting them. Google GOOGL already offers a similar feature with Google Maps.

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Looking ahead, Apple could be hoping to get its indoor mapping service to Apple Maps sometime next year, along with a tool that would tell users when and where to change lanes during navigation. Apple is still assembling the team that will help it take advantage of drones, the report says.

Apple did not immediately respond to a Fortune request for comment.

]]>http://fortune.com/2016/12/01/apple-google-maps-drone/feed/0Apple Maps1dreisingeriOS Flaw Fuels Teen’s Accidental Attack on 911 Emergency Systemshttp://fortune.com/2016/10/29/ios-attack-pheonix-911-system/
http://fortune.com/2016/10/29/ios-attack-pheonix-911-system/#respondSat, 29 Oct 2016 20:50:46 +0000http://fortune.com/?p=1843344]]>An Arizona teenager named Meetkumar Hiteshbhai Desai was arrested by the Cyber Crimes Unit of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, after he shared a link to a Javascript exploit that forced iPhones to call 911 repeatedly. The link was clicked 1,849 times, triggering over 100 'hangup calls' to the 911 dispatch center in Surprise, Arizona, within a matter of minutes. The Maricopa Sherrif’s Office says that put the center in "immediate danger of losing service to their switches."

Large volumes of fraudulent calls were also directed to the Peoria, Arizona police department and to the Maricopa County Sherrif's office, also threatening 911 service in those areas. Other fake calls were also reportedly directed to agencies in California and Texas.

Desai has been charged with 3 felony counts of computer tampering, though he told the Sherrif's office that he distributed the exploit accidentally. Desai told investigators in part that he was researching bugs to turn over to Apple as part of its bug bounty program, announced at the Black Hat conference this summer.

Desai told investigators that while working to exploit a bug discovered by an acquaintance online, he developed two versions of the malicious JavaScript code--one that opened popups and executed other annoying commands on a phone that accessed it, and another that commanded the phones to repeatedly dial 911. He told investigators that he had intended to share the less-malicious version of the exploit as a kind of prank, but accidentally shared the 911-dialing version instead.

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However, Desai also admitted, in the Maricopa Sherrif's words, that he "developed these malicious bugs and viruses to be recognized in the hacker and programming community as someone who was very skilled."

The incident, while haphazard and small scale, points to a much larger threat. Researchers demonstrated in September that only 6,000 phones affected by a similar hack could cause major disruptions to 911 services across a mid-sized U.S. state. 911 systems are particularly vulnerable because the FCC requires that mobile 911 calls be exempted from certain kinds of service filtering. Some forms of malware can even generate audio content with the calls, making it very difficult for call centers to distinguish between legitimate and fraudulent calls.

]]>http://fortune.com/2016/10/29/ios-attack-pheonix-911-system/feed/0iphonedzanemorrisGoogle Wants To Sell Businesses Big, Digital Whiteboardshttp://fortune.com/2016/10/25/google-business-digital-whiteboards/
http://fortune.com/2016/10/25/google-business-digital-whiteboards/#respondTue, 25 Oct 2016 16:00:59 +0000http://fortune.com/?p=1838265]]>Google has a new plan to win corporate customers, and it involves big, digital whiteboards that workers can write and scribble on like they would on old-fashioned whiteboards.

The search giant's Google Cloud enterprise business unit said Tuesday that it created a 55-inch digital whiteboard called the Jamboard, which comes with two custom stylus pens, a digital eraser, a touch interface, a camera, Wi-Fi connection, speakers, and a 4K resolution.

Resembling a giant tablet device, the Jamboard will sell for $6,000 when it's available to purchase in early 2017, alongside a wall-mount. A separate, moveable stand for the Jamboard will also be available in 2017, but Google goog did not say how much it would cost. Additionally models will also be sold at lower prices, but Google did not reveal those devices.

The Jamboard, powered by Google’s Android operating system, is Google's first big enterprise hardware product to be released since former VMware vmw co-founder Diane Greene joined the company last fall to lead its cloud business unit.

Google's last big enterprise-focused business product it sold to customers was its Search Appliance, a hardware device created in 2002 that businesses could hook into their I.T. infrastructure to search for files and documents. In February, Google sent an email to some of its partners and resellers that it would discontinue the Search Appliance as it shifts to selling other cloud enterprise services, suggesting the product failed to resonate with business users.

The Jamboard is designed to work hand-in-hand with Google's G Suite, its lineup of business-related apps formerly known as Google Apps for Work, including Docs, (word-processing), Sheets (spreadsheets), and Hangouts (online phone calls and text messaging). Customers must use the Chrome browser if they want to use the Jamboard to access the Internet and grab text or images to add to their digital whiteboard presentations. Plans are in the works to eventually have the device display video, said TJ Varghese, Google's product manager of the Jamboard.

During a Monday press event in San Francisco, several Google executives demonstrated how workers could use the whiteboard for their meetings, even those in which employees may be in multiple locations, with the help of its Google Hangouts app integration.

Other employees who have Appleaapl iOS or Android tablets can also hook up to the Jamboard and tinker with the board through their devices. As of now, there are no plans for Windows-powered devices, like the Surface Pro, to work with the Jamboard, said Google Cloud Vice President of Apps Prabhakar Raghavan.

Google Jamboard

Microsoft also sells a similar digital whiteboard called the Surface Hub that shares many of Jamboard's features, like a touch interface, microphones, and a stylus pen. The 55-inch Surface Hub sells for $9,000, while the 84-inch model sells for $22,000.

Google's Jamboard also has the ability to recognize and clean up people's handwriting and drawings, by straightening up their lines and circles after they are done scribbling. Users can turn on a feature that can recognize the words written and then convert those words into a computer font.

Still, the Jamboard is in its early days, and it lacks compatibility with current popular work productivity tools like chat app Slack and the cloud document service Box box. Integrations with those enterprise apps will be coming "down the road," said Varghese.

Additionally, Google created a proprietary file format called a Jam file that will be used to save a customer's digital whiteboard creations, and can be archived on a customer's Google Cloud storage account. Google did not say how big the Jam file is.

As of this time, Microsoft msft Office files like Word docs, Excel Spreadsheets, and Power Point files are not supported. Additionally, the CAD file, a popular file format used by architects, is also not supported. However, customers can export a Jam file to other popular formats, like PDF, so that unsupported products can still access the Jamboard files.

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"Our approach to this design is to keep it as simple as a whiteboard," said Varghese.

The product manager said that undisclosed partners helped Google manufacturer the Jamboard, “but it is entirely a Google design.”

Mobile analytics and research firm App Annie said this week that Chinese consumers spent $1.7 billion on Apple-sanctioned mobile apps in the third quarter, or about 15% higher than the nearly $1.45 billion spent by Americans during the same period.

The U.S. market had led in Apple aapl app store spending since 2010, according to the report.

The report's authors said that more Chinese consumers are buying mobile video games than ever, specifically those considered to be "multiplayer collaborative games" in which people can play with or against other users. After video games, Chinese consumers are heavy buyers of entertainment and video-streaming apps like Tencent Video and Youku.

From the report:

In Q3 2016, Chinese consumers spent more than five times the amount they spent just two years prior in the iOS App Store. Furthermore, according to the App Annie Forecast, revenue growth is set to continue, with China projected to drive the largest absolute revenue growth for any country by 2020.

App Annie did not list the leading mobile games in the China market. It did, however, state the obvious by saying that the blockbuster mobile game Pok?mon Go was a worldwide phenomenon.

The game relies on a type of technology called augmented reality in which players try to capture digital creatures that are overlaid onto the real world with the help of the phone's camera. The report’s authors said that Pok?mon Go reached $600 million in sales "faster than any app to date."

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"Poke?mon Go wasn't significantly borrowing time from other games, or apps for that matter," the report said. "Rather, its innovative AR gameplay and iconic IP were compelling enough to convince users to spend more time overall on their mobile devices. "

]]>http://fortune.com/2016/10/22/apple-app-store-china-united-states/feed/0The Apple iPhone7 and AirPods are displayed during an Apple media event in San Franciscojonathanvanian2015This Japan City Is Apple’s Next Research Hotbedhttp://fortune.com/2016/10/14/apple-research-center-yokohama-japan/
http://fortune.com/2016/10/14/apple-research-center-yokohama-japan/#respondFri, 14 Oct 2016 22:08:30 +0000http://fortune.com/?p=1828989]]>A new Apple research and development facility is coming to Japan.

A spokesperson representing Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday during a press conference in Tokyo that Apple plans to finish construction of a new development center in Japan's second largest city Yokohama, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

The Chinese news service reported that the new facility should open in December. Japanese electronics manufacturer Panasonic previously occupied the site of Apple's aapl new development center.

Tech blog Apple Insider reported in April on Apple's plans to open the Yokohama center, citing a Japanese blog that said the space will contain several buildings as opposed to one large facility. Apple Insider reported that Apple would hire researchers in the "materials science, vehicles, and health industries."

The news of the opening of Apple's new facility comes during a visit from Apple CEO Tim Cook to Japan to meet with the prime minister, which Bloomberg News said was Cook's first visit to Japan since become Apple's top executive.

According to Cook's Twitter page, the Apple CEO also visited Nintendo ntdoy video game producer Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of the popular Mario video game series in addition other admired video games.

In September during an Apple event in San Francisco, Cook invited Miyamoto on stage to demo a new Mario game for Apple mobile devices. The upcoming game, to be released in December, is noteworthy for being the first legally sanctioned Mario app to be available on iOS devices.

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"The magic of Mario is that anyone can pick up a game and everyone can start playing," Miyamoto said at the time.

]]>http://fortune.com/2016/10/14/apple-research-center-yokohama-japan/feed/0Tim Cook speaks in front of a Mario Bros. image during an Apple media event in San Franciscojonathanvanian2015How Google Tries to Keep Android Devices Safehttp://fortune.com/2016/09/28/google-android-devices-security/
http://fortune.com/2016/09/28/google-android-devices-security/#respondWed, 28 Sep 2016 22:48:08 +0000http://fortune.com/?p=1812057]]>It's a busy job for Google to make sure that the over a billion smartphones and related devices containing the search giant's Android operating system are safe as they can be.

Adrian Ludwig, Google's goog lead engineer for Android security, said Wednesday during the Structure Security conference in San Francisco that one way it makes sure it can make those devices are secure is by keeping the Android OS free to outside coders to inspect, in a so-called open source method.

It's a strategy that differs from Appleaapl, which keeps its mobile operating system locked down from outsiders.

Apple mobile devices have generally been considered safer than Android devices when it comes to hacking, according to many cybersecurity reports and technology analysts.

Ludwig, however, contends that part of the reason Android devices have been plagued by more viruses is because consumers can purchase apps from many different app stores available, rather than only than the Google-sanctioned Google Play app store.

Google allows "for third-parties to make stores" on its operating system in order to give people other ways sell their apps if they "don't want to distribute through Google Play," he said.

Still, it's often that corrupt apps get passed from the third-party app stores onto the devices of consumers who unwittingly download them. In these cases, Ludwig said, Google has to closely watch and react to how so-called malware is being spread downloaded onto devices--although he didn't specifically say how the company does so.

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Ludwig explained that because the Android OS is open source, more people are looking at the underlying code--which presumably means that these people can spot security holes. Still, he acknowledged that just because technology is open source, doesn't mean that everyone is going to notice every single vulnerability in the code, as was the case of the major 2014 Heartbleed software bug that affected the popular open-source software OpenSSL.

In this case, Google needs help from the carriers and hardware manufacturers that build its phones to do their part in making ensuring they are regularly updating their phones’ software.

Ludwig cited Samsung as a standout company that "at this point has literally several hundred device models that they are regularly updating."

Less than two weeks ago, Apple introduced the latest version of its mobile operating system, iOS 10, that came with a new addition to its now nearly five-year-old iMessage chat service: Apps created outside developers. Users can now play a game during their chats, reserve a restaurant table, or buy movie tickets. It’s all designed to make iMessage more useful--and thereby help Apple sell more iPhones and iPads.

Already, Apple’s App Store has about 400 apps available from third-party companies and another roughly 1,250 sticker packs (collections of images users can send in messages like emoji), according to mobile analytics company SensorTower. The apps’ makers range from large companies like OpenTable and ESPN, to popular privately-held businesses like Airbnb, to even smaller startups like Dubsmash, whose app lets users record short lip-syncing videos.

It’s still early to tell whether iMessage apps will turn into a big business for all the companies jumping aboard. Some of the companies may already have mobile apps and will simply build an iMessage version. Other may create apps specifically for iMessage, betting that the demand in this virgin ground will be strong enough to keep their companies afloat.

Platforms, as they are called by techies, are nothing new in Silicon Valley. For example, Slack, the popular workplace chat tool, last year opened its service to third-party chat bots, which are small programs that interact with users within a messaging-style app. Since then, companies have added a slew of these bots to Slack. It even helped set up a $80 million fund to invest in other startups building bots and other apps for its service.

Of course, Apple’s original App Store gave rise to an entire generation of startups focused on building iOS apps (or several).

Apple is now trying to set off another boom. But there’s also a potential downside for any company that takes the bait: Third party companies that create services on top of someone else’s platform are always at risk because platform owners sometimes change their minds.

]]>http://fortune.com/2016/09/25/apple-imessage-apps-gold-rush/feed/0Tim Cook discusses the iPhone during an Apple media event in San FranciscokiakokalitchevaApple’s iOS 10 Adoption Rate Nears 20% In Just Two Dayshttp://fortune.com/2016/09/15/ios-10-adoption-rate/
http://fortune.com/2016/09/15/ios-10-adoption-rate/#respondThu, 15 Sep 2016 15:53:06 +0000http://fortune.com/?p=1798247]]>Apple’s new mobile operating system iOS 10 has only been available for a couple of days, but it’s already catching on among iPhone and iPad owners.

Apple’s iOS 10 is now running on 19.9% of all iOS devices, according to Mixpanel, an analytics company that claims to have generated the findings from more than 183 billion “records” on devices around the world. Meanwhile, iOS 9, the operating system that Apple launched last year that had been running on more than 90% of iOS devices, is now on 75% of Apple products currently in use. Apple’s iOS 10 launched on Tuesday.

The findings illustrate clearly how well AppleAAPL performs at getting customers to download its latest operating systems. Such a feat is important. The sooner users get to newer operating systems, the sooner Apple can stop worrying about supporting outdated versions of its software. It also allows app developers to dedicate more of their resources to supporting Apple’s latest operating systems instead of older platforms. And for consumers, upgrading to a new operating system can often mean improving security.

Apple’s iOS 10 doesn’t feature a major design upgrade compared to its predecessor, but it does have notable improvements to iMessage, allowing users to add stickers to their messages and get important information about a link they’re sent from another user before they tap on it. The operating system also comes with a revamped Apple Music streaming app, third-party support for Apple’s virtual personal assistant Siri, and support for the company’s mobile-payment service Apple Pay in the Safari browser. It’s a free download.

Apple has always been quick to tout its ability to get hundreds of millions of users onto its latest operating systems--and for good reason. Apple and Google are in an ongoing battle to attract developers to their operating systems and get the latest and greatest apps. The more high-quality apps they offer, the more money they stand to gain in revenue-sharing agreements with developers.

While developers are interested most in big userbases, which both Google’s GOOGL Android and Apple’s iOS have, they also like to know that if they build an app, they won’t need to support operating systems that are several years old and therefore require more resources and potentially cause them to limit some of their features. In the iOS universe, that’s not a problem. In Android, however, it is.

As of this writing, Android’s Marshmallow, its last official release before Nougat hits more devices soon, is only running on 18.7% of all Android devices worldwide. More than 15% of Android’s users are running on Android Jelly Bean, which dates back to 2012. Developers, therefore, might want to support those older operating systems to boost the number of people that could use their apps.

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For its part, Apple hasn’t provided exact figures yet on how many iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch users are running iOS 10. However, expect the operating system to overtake iOS 9 before long and soon become the most popular iOS version in the world.

]]>http://fortune.com/2016/09/15/ios-10-adoption-rate/feed/0Apple ShowcasedreisingerHow and When You Can Download iOS 10http://fortune.com/2016/09/13/how-to-download-ios-10/
http://fortune.com/2016/09/13/how-to-download-ios-10/#respondTue, 13 Sep 2016 13:00:16 +0000http://fortune.com/?p=1794429]]>Lost amid talk of Apple’s new iPhone at the company’s press event last week was iOS 10. But Apple did say it’s coming--and soon.

At its press event, Apple said that iOS 10, which was announced at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, will be available to iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch users starting on Tuesday. Like its predecessors, the app will be a free download, and available over the air, so users won’t need to plug their devices into a computer to get the software on their hardware.

Apple’s AAPL iOS 10 comes with several improvements, including a slew of bug fixes and security enhancements, as well as a revamped Apple Music that makes it easier to find music, a new Home app to control smart home products like a smart thermostat or light bulb, and improvements to Apple’s News application. Users will also find several new features in Apple’s iMessage, including the ability to append stickers to messages, and accessing more information about a notification will be easier. Apple has even opened up its virtual personal assistant Siri to third-party developers, so users can interact with non-Apple apps with the voice assistant.

Suffice it to say, iOS 10 is one of the biggest updates to Apple’s mobile operating system in quite some time. So, for those who want to download it, here’s a quick guide on how and when:

When: Apple hasn’t said exactly when iOS 10 will be available on Tuesday, though its major software updates usually start hitting its devices around midday or so. Apple, which has its headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., typically likes to release updates around that time so its engineers are ready for any problems that might surface.

What devices are supported? Apple’s iOS can run on a range of devices. On the iPhone side, users can run it without trouble on iPhone 5 through iPhone 7. The iPad will also get support for iOS 10, with the iPad Mini 2 through 4 all supporting the software. The fourth-generation iPad, the iPad Air and iPad Air 2, and the iPad Pro will also run iOS 10. Apple’s sixth-generation iPod Touch is also supported.

How: Before you download iOS 10, be sure that your device’s data is fully backed up via iCloud. Having data backed up means you reduce the risk of losing data if the update process goes awry and something on the device’s storage becomes corrupted. Apple’s iCloud typically backs up data on its own, but you can always check to see when you last backed up in your iCloud settings and choose to manually back up before you download the update.

Once you’re sure your data is properly backed up, it’s time to find the download. Depending on your settings, you might get a notification to download iOS 10, from which you can choose to either install it at that time or at some point in the future. You can also go to iOS Settings, choose General, then Software Update to access the software. If it’s available at that time, your device will alert you and you can start downloading. However, be aware that Apple will only install the update if the iOS device is connected to a power source or has enough battery life left to get through the lengthy update process. If there isn’t enough battery life left, Apple will wait for the device to be connected to a power source before installing the software.

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Once the update commences, there isn’t much left to do but wait for it to be installed. While you can keep using your device while the operating system is being downloaded, once it’s time to install it, your hardware will be useless until the operating system comes back up in all of its iOS 10 glory. From there, you need only to follow the prompt, input your Apple ID information, decide whether you want the operating system to track your device, and you’ll be good to go.

The channel, People/Entertainment Weekly Network, or PEN, will debut Tuesday with 14 original shows scheduled during the first month. The goal is to expand the entertainment and celebrity focus of the two magazines to streaming video, an increasing focus for many traditional media companies amid a shift by readers and television viewers to digital news and entertainment.

"PEN is designed to be a network for the future with its premium long-form video delivered directly to consumers through multiple platforms and channels," said Rich Battista, president of Time Inc., the parent company to People and Entertainment Weekly along with Fortune. "We have a strong foundation of outstanding original programming and partnerships with leading multiplatform distributors and blue chip advertising partners from day one.”

In addition to being viewable online and on mobile devices, the network will be distributed to television screens through Amazon Fire TV, Google Chromecast, and Comcast's Xfinity. It will also be available on Roku Players.

Programs available at the channel’s premiere include a celebrity interview show, video features based on People magazine articles, and a documentary about five children who were conceived but still unborn when their fathers died on 9-11. Viewers will also be able to watch archived video from Time Inc.’s time extensive library.

]]>http://fortune.com/2016/09/12/people-entertainment-weekly-new-network/feed/0Dixie Chicks Iraq / Entertainment Weekly, May 2, 2003vernekopyApple’s Beats Deal Comes Into Focus After iPhone 7 Loses Headphone Jackhttp://fortune.com/2016/09/08/apple-beats-iphone-7-2/
http://fortune.com/2016/09/08/apple-beats-iphone-7-2/#respondThu, 08 Sep 2016 15:48:00 +0000http://fortune.com/?p=1790388]]>Apple’s decision to remove the headphone jack in the iPhone 7 brings to light an important question: Would Apple have made the move now if it didn’t own Beats?

Apple acquired Beats in 2014 for over $3 billion. Although Beats was largely known as a headphones company run by music executive Jimmy Iovine and artist and producer Dr. Dre, it also had a streaming-music service attached that many believed Apple was after. Many analysts and industry pundits correctly predicted that Apple would use the streaming service as the framework for Apple’s own alternative to popular services like Spotify. Best of all, Apple could tap into the important relationships Iovine and Dr. Dre had with the music industry and attract more albums and talent to its service.

Beats is one of the most prominent headphone makers in the world and sells a wide array of both wired and wireless headphones. And while that hasn’t changed, Apple was quick to note at its press event on Wednesday that three Beats headphone options, including a new line known as the Beats X, offer Apple’s new W1 chip that allows those devices to easily (and wirelessly) connect to an iPhone and Apple Watch.

After Apple made its announcement on Wednesday, Beats sent out a press release promoting wireless headphones and its interchange with the iPhone 7. The company’s site has been taken over by talk of wireless headphones and the company has sent emails to customers promoting its latest innovations.

Suddenly, Beats is starting to look like a more interesting division within Apple. The iPhone maker has long been rumored to have called on Beats’ expertise in developing headphones to improve its own sound technology, and there’s a good chance that the Beats engineering team at least had some input into how the AirPods would be developed. Moreover, by integrating the W1 chip in Beats headphones and Apple’s seeming desire to get more customers interested in Beats’ wireless headphones, the iPhone maker is hoping to bolster that division’s hardware revenue and keep Beats and Apple atop the headphone heap.

“When taken in combination with the W1 chipset, a rise in convenience is offset by a clear aggregate move by Apple to move iOS device owners' accessories purchases away from third parties and industry standards, and more distinctly into Apple's own product families,” IHS senior analyst Paul Erickson said. “It should be noted that wireless models are the highest revenue-generating products within the headphone market, as well.”

Simply put, eliminating the headphone jack might have given Apple an opportunity to leverage the intellect within Beats and at the same time, find ways to drive more customers to a division that cost it billions of dollars.

Better yet, the move seems to be in keeping with industry trends.

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According to Slice Intelligence, a research firm that analyzed online sales over the last 12 months, wireless headphone sales continue to rise, and in June, more people bought wireless headphones than wired headphones. Ian Fogg, head of mobile analysis at IHS Technology, a research firm, added that Apple is by no means the first to remove a headphone jack and noted that the Moto Z and “select models” from other companies have also ditched the port. Apple might be the biggest company to make the move, but it’s not the first.

The ultimate question, then, is how will customers respond?

Right now, analysts are unsure and many, including Fogg, have called the move to eliminate the headphone jack “risky.” But when taken as a whole, it appears there’s more to the story than Apple simply wanting to remove an ancient port. Apple’s decision could be a play to help Beats grow revenue, and perhaps most importantly to Apple, gain more market control.

“In totality, these moves represent Apple's desire to bolster declining mobile device revenues by capturing as much of its device owners' expenditures in the burgeoning audio accessories market as possible--via a deliberate transition away from industry audio standards and towards ones it controls, and the introduction of unique proprietary functionality,” Erickson argues.

]]>http://fortune.com/2016/09/08/apple-beats-iphone-7-2/feed/0Apple AirPods 2016dreisingerHere’s What Apple Didn’t Announce at its iPhone Eventhttp://fortune.com/2016/09/07/apple-iphone-event-recap/
http://fortune.com/2016/09/07/apple-iphone-event-recap/#respondWed, 07 Sep 2016 21:47:35 +0000http://fortune.com/?p=1788113]]>Apple’s press event on Sept. 7 was what many had expected it to be: a place for the company to talk about its new iPhone. But it was also notable for what it didn’t announce.

Prior to Apple’s Sept. 7 press event at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, rumors were flying fast and furious about what the company might announce. There was rampant speculation that the event would center on the iPhone 7 (which it did) and that Apple Watch could get an update (which also happened). However, there were also some reports that Apple’s iPad could get an upgrade and the company could deliver new Macs. Both the iPad and Macs were conspicuous omissions from Apple’s early September show.

But they weren’t alone. Indeed, the company’s iPhone event was just as notable in what Apple AAPL didn’t announce as it was in what it did. So, Fortune has compiled the following list of items some had hoped or expected to hear that never materialized.

Say “So Long” to the Headphone Jack: As several rumors and leaks had suggested prior to the event, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will not come with a headphone jack. Apple tried to justify its decision to eliminate the port that people have relied upon for years to listen to audio by saying that it’s showing “courage” and believes going wireless is the future of technology. Needless to say, it’s a controversial decision.

Still No Apple Watch LTE: The feature many Apple Watch buyers had hoped would be announced wasn’t: support for LTE connectivity. With LTE built into an Apple Watch, it would be possible to use the device without having an iPhone nearby, effectively turning the wearable into its own phone that can connect to cellular networks. While it was nice to see Apple bundle GPS in the Apple Watch Series 2, the company is not yet ready to turn over an LTE chip.

You Won’t Find Wireless Charging: Apple talked at length about its view that wireless connectivity is bleeding-edge technology. And yet, as the company pitched the idea of wireless earbuds, it didn’t show any signs of supporting wireless charging for its iPhone or Apple Watch. Although several competitors, including its chief rival Samsung, offer wireless charging in their top devices, Apple is stubbornly sticking to the increasingly old-fashioned tethered charging.

There Wasn’t a New Mac in Sight: Apple didn’t announce new Macs at its press event, buttressing some analysts’ belief that Apple could hold another event next month focused on new Macs. Apple’s Mac line, which includes both desktops and notebooks, has needed an overhaul for quite some time. There have been reports that Apple is working on a new MacBook Pro that would feature a touchbar above its keyboard as well as possible Touch ID support for additional security and Apple Pay. It wasn’t unveiled on Wednesday, which has some wondering when (or if) it’ll make an appearance.

There Was No Talk of TV and Apple TV: The Apple TV was able to shed its status as a “hobby” last year, but it was a no-show at this year’s event. Despite rumors that Apple is working on a television-streaming service and the company would offer more storage in a new Apple TV it would launch this year, such announcements never materialized. It’s unclear whether an Apple TV update will be saved for later this year or next year.

The Wildly Expensive Gold Apple Watch Edition is Gone: Last year, Apple made waves by announcing a gold Apple Watch it called the Apple Watch Edition that cost up to $17,000. After its event on Wednesday, however, Apple revealed on its website that the Apple Watch Edition has been replaced by the ceramic version it announced during the show. The ceramic Apple Watch Edition starts at $1,249--a far cry from its gold predecessor’s price tag.

That Must-Have, Revolutionary Product: The days of Apple using its press events to unveil a new, must-have, revolutionary product may be behind us. The pace of innovation is simply too slow for Apple to deliver major upgrades to its iPhone, which is likely why 2017 will be the year when we’ll get a big update. Apple is rumored to have interest in other industries, including electric cars, healthcare, and virtual reality, but it hasn’t confirmed that’s the case.

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At the event, Apple stayed in its comfort zone with products that generate boatloads of cash and help it line its pockets. That’s not a bad financial move, but the excitement of Apple events is giving way. And in its place, we’re getting announcements we all knew were coming months ago.

]]>http://fortune.com/2016/09/07/apple-iphone-event-recap/feed/0Tim Cook makes his closing remarks during an Apple media event in San FranciscodreisingerHere’s When You Can Get Your Hands on Apple iOS 10http://fortune.com/2016/09/07/ios-10-launch-date/
http://fortune.com/2016/09/07/ios-10-launch-date/#respondWed, 07 Sep 2016 19:00:53 +0000http://fortune.com/?p=1788112]]>The next version of Apple’s mobile operating system, which was announced at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, is launching soon.

iOS 10 will roll out to iPhone and iPad users on Tuesday, September 13. Apple already launched both developer and public beta programs allowing users to try out the software over the summer.

The new iOS comes with a largely similar design to iOS 9, which Apple launched last year. However, Apple made several improvements to the operating system’s functionality, allowing users to add stickers to iMessage, as well as digitally write messages to other users. The operating system also comes with an overhauled Apple Music redesign, helping users find more music and stream it. Most importantly for third-party developers, iOS 10 allows any app maker to access Apple’s virtual personal assistant Siri and use the intelligent service to do everything from allow users to book a ride on Lyft to get directions from third-party mapping apps.

Apple has also upgraded its mapping app, Apple Maps, to provide more accurate directions, as well as book reservations and find points of interest around a particular route. There’s also a new Home app for users to manage smart home lights, doors, and other products from a single spot. Apple CEO Tim Cook described Home is a “huge moment for home automation,” adding that nearly all major manufacturers support the app.

Like all other iOS releases, Apple’s iOS 10 will only be available on Apple’s products and will be a free download when it’s made available on September 13.

iOS 10 will support the sixth-generation iPod Touch; the iPad Mini 2 and up; the fourth-generation iPad, iPad Air, and iPad Air 2; and the iPad Pro. On the iPhone front, the operating system works with the iPhone 5 or newer.

]]>http://fortune.com/2016/09/07/ios-10-launch-date/feed/0Tim Cook discusses the iPhone during an Apple media event in San FranciscodreisingerNintendo Is Bringing Mario to Apple Deviceshttp://fortune.com/2016/09/07/nintendo-apple-mario-ios/
http://fortune.com/2016/09/07/nintendo-apple-mario-ios/#respondWed, 07 Sep 2016 17:47:09 +0000http://fortune.com/?p=1788940]]>One of the most popular video game characters of all time is finally coming to Apple devices.

Mario, the plump plumber who is the familiar face of several of Nintendo’s most successful video games, will be getting his own mobile game on Apple’s app store sometime before holiday season, Nintendo announced at an Apple event on Wednesday in San Francisco.

Although Apple has over 500,000 games in its app store, Apple CEO Tim Cook said, “There’s been something or rather someone missing.” Cook was, of course, talking about Mario, who has yet to star in a sanctioned iOS game.

Cook then introduced Nintendo video game designer and producer Shigeru Miyamoto to the stage to talk about the new Mario game. Besides helping to create the popular Mario franchise, Miyamoto also helped create the Donkey Kong and The Legend of Zelda franchises.

Unlike other popular mobile games, the new Nintendo game, Super Mario Run, will be available for a set price instead of a so-called freemium model. In a freemium model, users can download games for free but must pay money for additional features.

Miyamoto did not reveal the price.

“The magic of Mario is that anyone can pick up a game and everyone can start playing,” Miyamoto said.

Apple

The new game resembles preceding Marios, except in the iOS version, Mario is constantly running, Miyamoto explained. Users can make Mario jump and collect coins, play against other users on a global network, and build and customize their own so-called “mushroom kingdom” using the coins they collect from their matches.

]]>http://fortune.com/2016/09/07/nintendo-apple-mario-ios/feed/0Apple Inc. Unveils Next Generation iPhone And New Watchjonathanvanian2015mario apple gif 2016That Really Scary iOS Security Flaw Also Affects Your Machttp://fortune.com/2016/09/02/ios-security-mac/
http://fortune.com/2016/09/02/ios-security-mac/#respondFri, 02 Sep 2016 15:07:09 +0000http://fortune.com/?p=1785361]]>The same security flaw that could have allowed hackers to steal your iPhone data without you knowing it also exists on the Mac.

On Thursday, Applereleased a patch for a security flaw that would allow hackers to exploit flaws in its OS X desktop operating system, install spyware on the computer, and steal all kinds of data. The flaws Apple AAPL patches are the same it fixed in iOS 9.3.5 last week.

In a security note, Apple was loath to say much, stipulating--as it does with all security updates--that it doesn’t “disclose, discuss, or confirm security issues until an investigation has occurred and patches or releases are available.”

However, the tech giant released patches to its desktop operating system that would have allowed hackers to find out where the kernel memory is stored in OS X Yosemite and OS X El Capitan, enabling them to run spyware with full administrator privileges.

In other words, anyone running a Mac should update their computers immediately.

The flaw was originally discovered last month after a human rights activist in the United Arab Emirates was targeted with a text message containing a link. Had Ahmed Mansoor, the activist, clicked the link, he could have given his hackers access to his operating system and allowed them to steal everything from phone call information to data he stored on his device. What’s worse, the spyware lives on undetected by the user and can uninstall itself once the hacker has obtained all the information he or she wants to collect.

Instead of clicking on the link, Mansoor sent the link to watchdog group Citizen Lab, which worked with security firm Lookout to identify the vulnerability. They reported that the tool the hackers were using is called Pegasus and was developed by a company that specializes in cyber weapons and sells those to governments for use against high-value targets.

After the two organizations identified the flaw and how it targeted both the iOS kernel and Apple’s own Safari browser, they informed the iPhone maker. Apple patched iOS 10 days later and those running iOS 9.3.5 are now believed to be safe from the hack.

However, it wasn’t clear whether the issue also affected Apple’s desktop operating system (which will soon be renamed to macOS) until Thursday, when Apple released the same patch and credited both Citizen Lab and Lookout for finding the flaw. Like the iOS version, which is believed to have been targeting devices for several years, the Mac version of the spyware is fully capable of stealing all user data.

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Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the patch.

]]>http://fortune.com/2016/09/02/ios-security-mac/feed/0Apple Overtakes Google As World's Most Valuable BranddreisingerApple’s iOS ‘Failure Rate’ Is Higher Than Android’s For First Timehttp://fortune.com/2016/08/25/apple-ios-failure-rate/
http://fortune.com/2016/08/25/apple-ios-failure-rate/#respondThu, 25 Aug 2016 19:18:39 +0000http://fortune.com/?p=1777946]]>Apple’s iOS devices like iPhones and iPads crashed twice as often in the second quarter compared to the previous one, new data shows.

Fifty-eight percent of iOS-based devices suffered from “performance failures” like apps crashing or components shutting down during the second quarter, up from 25% in the first quarter, according to a study by mobile technology service provider Blancco Technology Group (BTG).

For the first time ever, Apple’s iOS performance failure rate was higher than Google’s GOOGL Android. Thirty-five percent of devices running Android had problems during the three months ended June 30, an improvement from a 44% failure rate in the preceding quarter.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment.

BTG came up with its findings by monitoring the company’s SmartChk, a service that runs tests on smartphones and tablets to find problems. That information can then be used to repair the devices. BTG didn’t say exactly how many iOS- and Android-based devices were analyzed in its most recent study, but a spokeswoman confirmed that it analyzed “millions of devices from North America, Europe, and Asia.”

The data provides some important insight into why mobile apps crash and the likely causes.

For instance, on iOS devices, the most common “performance failure”--about two-thirds of the total--was an app that crashed and forced users to reopen it. The company also found that 11% Apple device owners experienced problems with Wi-Fi connectivity.

On the Android side, the camera was the most likely source of trouble, accounting for 10% of performance problems. Another 10% were attributed to battery charging while 7% were blamed on touchscreen performance.

In its study, BTG revealed that iOS troubles were likely due to Apple’s iOS 9.3.1 update in March followed by its 9.3.2 update in May. They both caused problems with “battery drain, random crashes,” and other unidentified problems, the company said.

Indeed, not long after the iOS 9.3.1 update earlier this year, customers complained that it caused bugs and glitches that could render their devices useless. Although Apple fixed the issue in iOS 9.3.2, the update included other bugs, leading to yet more problems. Apple’s latest iOS version is 9.3.5, which, at least right now, is believed to be more stable than those before it this year because it has fixes for bugs those operating systems had.

It was a similar story on the Android side, which also experienced problems due to Android software updates, BTG said.

BTG then turned its attention to the apps themselves to see which first- and third-party programs caused mobile devices to crash. It found that half of the apps running on iOS devices last quarter crashed, compared to 23% of those running on Android.

However, Apple’s AAPL apps appeared to be far more stable than those from Google. In fact, the Google Play app marketplace was most likely to crash in the previous quarter followed by Google Contacts Sync, which syncs user content on Android, BTG found. Android’s built-in Address Book and Photos app also played a big role.

Third-party apps proved to be the biggest soft spots on iOS. BTG reported that photo-and-video-sharing app Snapchat was the most-likely app to crash on iOS followed by Facebook-owned photo-sharing app Instagram, Facebook FB itself, and Facebook’s mobile-messaging service Messenger.

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One other tidbit from the BTG findings: Samsung smartphones were the most likely to crash on the Android side with a 26% failure rate.

Apple’s aapl move came after researchers reported this week about how unnamed hackers attempted to install the bug on the phone of a human rights activist in the United Arab Emirates.

“We were made aware of this vulnerability and immediately fixed it with iOS 9.3.5. We advise all of our customers to always download the latest version of iOS to protect themselves against potential security exploits,” said an Apple spokesman, adding the patch had been shipped at 1 p.m. ET on Thursday.

The iOS vulnerabilities involved so-called “zero day” exploits and were sold as a mobile espionage product called “Pegasus,” according to Lookout, a San Francisco-based security company. Pegasus was reportedly developed by NSO Group, which specializes in making cyber weapons.

Lookout claims the Pegasus product was so valuable that it sold for price of $8 million for 300 licenses. The company added in a blog post that the license would only be used against high value targets.

One of those targets was Ahmed Mansoor, the UAE activist. According to watchdog group Citizen Lab, Mansoor received text messages on in his iPhone on August 10 from someone who promised to share new secrets about prisoners being tortured in UAE jails.

The message included a link, but Mansoor elected not to click it and instead reached out to Citizen Lab, which discovered the iOS vulnerabilities along with Lookout.

After deciphering the nature of the vulnerabilities, the two organizations then informed Apple, which proceeded to repair them--resulting in the patch the company sent out on Thursday.

The incident underscores again how iPhone vulnerabilities are highly coveted because Apple devices are considered to be extremely difficult to penetrate. It may also serve to validate Apple’s recent decision to embrace “bug bounties” in which companies offer rewards to anyone who calls their attention to flaws in their software. The Pegasus affair comes after reports last month over iOS vulnerabilities related to password theft and FaceTime.

]]>http://fortune.com/2016/08/25/apple-pegasus-security-fix/feed/0APPLE2JeffQuora’s Co-Founder Is Back In the Startup Game at Y Combinatorhttp://fortune.com/2016/08/23/charlie-cheever-y-combinator/
http://fortune.com/2016/08/23/charlie-cheever-y-combinator/#respondTue, 23 Aug 2016 19:14:17 +0000http://fortune.com/?p=1775761]]>"I felt like an old person going back to college to finish their degree," said Charlie Cheever as he stood in the hall of the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif. while 500 investors were packed inside the auditorium a few yards away.

Cheever, who is tall with light-colored hair and thin-rimmed glasses, is sporting a red hoodie--the classic "entrepreneur" attire these days. On Tuesday, the summer class of Y Combinator’s startup accelerator program kicked off a two-day marathon of pitches in front of a small crowd of select investors and journalists. But despite the day’s commotion and excitement, Cheever is quiet and politely chatting with attendees.

That’s because he’s sort of a veteran--both as a startup founder and of Silicon Valley in general. Cheever was an early engineering manager at Facebook fb, eventually helping the company debut its platform for outside developers.

Cheever then went on to co-found Quora, a question-and-answer service. But he left the latter in 2012 and has since kept a low profile, mostly investing in a few startups like Zenefits, Opendoor, and URX-- "mostly people I just know," as he says. So far, that strategy has worked out pretty well, he adds.

That is, until now.

On Tuesday, Cheever was in Mountain View because his one-year-old startup--or rather "project," as he describes it--was part of Y Combinator’s latest class of nascent companies. Exponent, as it’s called, is a sort of translation machine for mobile app code. In short, it will translate an application written in Javascript, a popular Web programming language developed by Mozilla, into native iOS and Android code, removing the need to manually program it for each mobile operating system. It uses React Native, an open source library of Javascript tools maintained by Facebook and Instagram’s engineers.

"I was in charge of the mobile teams for a while at Quora and it took us a long time to make an iPhone app, and it took us a long time to make an Android app that was basically the same thing," says Cheever. "Then it was hard to keep those in sync," he adds.

Exponent is hardly the first company to try to tackle the challenge of building identical apps for different operating systems. Last week, VentureBeat reported that Googlegoog quietly acquired Apportable, a startup with tools designed to let iOS developers translate their apps for Android.

Unlike most startups graduating from Y Combinator’s program, Exponent doesn’t need to raise any money, according to Cheever. In fact, even his experience through the three-month program was a bit different from those of his peers. Though some of the other startups in the same class were further along than Exponent or the founders had previously tackled challenges Cheever hadn’t, he wasn’t exactly a newbie to the startup game.

Yet, Cheever is humble. "In some ways it was probably like anyone else’s, it gives you a sense of urgency, a kick in the butt," he says, adding that he didn’t feel like he knew more than everyone else.

Ironically, he’s not the first Quora founder to participate in Y Combinator’s program. In 2014, Quora itself said it was joining that summer’s class, though its intentions were hard to discern. Unlike other young startups typically accepted in the program, Quora was five years old, and had already raised $141 million in funding--it hardly needed to learn how to build a tech startup or navigate Silicon Valley’s investor scene.

At the time, some speculated that Quora wanted to tap into Y Combinator’s strong network and talent pool, while others thought it wanted a three-month kick in the butt to focus and seriously start working on turning its service into a revenue-generating business.

Over the last two years, Quora has remained largely quiet. It recently added Spanish as its second language, and began experiment with advertising a few months ago. Longtime head of business development Marc Bodnick left in May, with finance vice president Steven Trieu departing the following month.

As for his own motives for joining Y Combinator, Cheever is straightforward: customer acquisition.

"We’re building this thing that we want to be this popular way that people make mobile apps," he says, adding that Y Combinator’s startups and alumni build so many apps that it’s an undeniable network for his team to plug into. Hopefully, many fellow Y Combinator startups will use Exponent’s tools.

For now, Cheever says he just wants to keep working on Exponent with his six teammates and see where it goes. Ideally, he would like it to remain independent but he’s not focused on the future yet.

]]>http://fortune.com/2016/08/23/charlie-cheever-y-combinator/feed/0Charlie CheeverkiakokalitchevaThis Startup Led By Ex-Googlers Just Got Millions From Major League Baseball and the LA Dodgershttp://fortune.com/2016/08/11/xperiel-google-major-league-baseball-dodgers/
http://fortune.com/2016/08/11/xperiel-google-major-league-baseball-dodgers/#respondThu, 11 Aug 2016 11:30:48 +0000http://fortune.com/?p=1764650]]>It's not everyday that a group of investors like Major League Baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the co-founder of Sun Microsystems, and Google's cloud chief ban together to back a new startup.

Xperiel, a startup led by former Googlegoog engineers, said Thursday that it received $7 million from the high-profile investor group as it attempts to build a sort-of all-in-one mobile app development tool that works with Internet-connected equipment in sports stadiums and other facilities.

The idea is that if sports teams and stadium owners build apps that can connect to different equipment in their facilities, like point-of-sales systems and scoreboards, they can create more compelling apps for their fans.

Among the pack of investors backing the company are Sun Microsystems' co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim, Google's head of cloud computing Diane Greene, outgoing Stanford University president John Henness, Uber and StumbleUpon co-founder Garrett Camp, and co-founder of accounting software company Intuit intu Scott Cook.

The startup's founders are CEO Alex Hertel and CTO Philipp Hertel, brothers who sold their prior company, Zetawire, to Google in 2010. The brothers said Google incorporated the payment technology they created at Zetawire into its own Google Wallet payment service.

For Xperiel's software to properly work, various equipment throughout a stadium needs to be connected to the internet. However, the company doesn't actually do the infrastructure legwork required to tether the machinery together.

For example, at Dodger Stadium where the L.A. Dodgers are testing the software, Xperiel hooks into an IT management tool built by UK company FortressGB that helps stadium operators keep track of ticketing transactions, vendor sales, and parking services, explained Philipp Hertel.

Once the Xperiel development tool is plugged into the IT system, customers can then build apps using a specialized graphical programming language developed by the brothers.

The graphical language is supposedly easy enough for non-coders to build apps with, and includes a so-called interpreter that converts the graphics into the more common C++ coding language, which lets the apps run on multiple different smartphones like Android or iOS devices.

Xperiel’s app-development tool also lets stadium owners and sports teams create mobile apps that use a smartphone's sensors in conjunction with so-called beacons that stadium operators can place throughout the facility. These beacons transmit wireless signals that can be picked up by a fan's smartphone and can trigger certain events within a mobile app to make a more compelling experience for fans. For example, a sports team could create a mobile app in which each time familiar fans enter the stadium and walk by a certain big screen, a nearby beacon would sense that they are near and trigger the fans’ faces to come on screen.

Many of the possible apps the two co-founder brothers described during a press briefing seemed to focus on interactive mobile games like scavenger hunts, in which fans can get rewards for performing certain actions during a sporting event, like buying some food or tickets.

Bechtolsheim said he became interested in the startup because the development tool lets people "modify things very quickly" without having to futz with the underlying software that can slow things down.

Creators of the high-profile augmented reality game Pok?mon Go "have done a fantastic job tapping into millennial energy," he added, saying that he believes the tool can perhaps lead to more people creating similar popular apps.

The L.A. Dodgers are currently testing Xperiel's software at their stadium for some season ticket holders, said the team's CFO, Tucker Kain.

Xperiel CTO Philipp Hertel said that these season ticket holders can use their phones to check in at certain kiosks in Dodger Stadium for the chance to win prizes.

Kain explained that he wants the technology to create apps leaving Dodgers fans happier and more likely to keep attending games.

"I have to iterate with fans and get feedback from them," he said.

Still, the startup and its technology are so new, Xperiel is "not promising the first thing we launch is going to be awesome," cautioned CEO Alex Hertel.

That's why the company’s co-founders are working with sports organizations and stadium operators to hone the technology and learn what its partners want out of the development tool.

For more about sports, watch Fortune’s video:

If it catches on with sports teams, Alex Hertel hopes to eventually start targeting other industries, like the retail sector.

The brothers insist that they don't want Xperiel to be a marketing company that builds custom apps for its clientele. It just wants to make the underlying technology so others can build the apps on their own, they said.

]]>http://fortune.com/2016/08/11/xperiel-google-major-league-baseball-dodgers/feed/0fortunate 50 Adrian Gonzalezjonathanvanian2015Here’s How Big Apple’s App Store Could Be In 2020http://fortune.com/2016/08/11/apple-app-iphone-ipad/
http://fortune.com/2016/08/11/apple-app-iphone-ipad/#respondThu, 11 Aug 2016 08:25:51 +0000http://fortune.com/?p=1764797]]>Apple’s App Store is likely to contain twice as many iOS apps by the end of 2020 than it currently holds, according to research by the app marketing company Sensor Tower.

That will mean a catalog of just over five million apps for iPhones and iPads. Sensor Tower is basing this prediction on the trends in the app store’s growth since Apple aapl opened it in 2008.

The firm said games are by far the biggest category of new apps that get added each month, to the tune of almost 21,000 new apps per month, or around 43% of the total.

After that, it’s education, entertainment, business and lifestyle, all of which see between 2,200 and 2,500 new apps added monthly. At the bottom of the chart, only 134 new weather apps appeared in May.

Not coincidentally, Sensor Tower provides tools that it claims will help developers get their apps in front of people’s eyeballs. When you’re dealing with this enormous volume of apps, only a few will be easily discoverable.

That problem will largely have to be solved by Apple itself. Sensor Tower reckons that Apple’s current push into machine learning could play a part—the company just this month bought a machine-learning startup called Turi for a reported $200 million.

For more on Apple, watch our video.

Machine learning essentially involves teaching machines how to learn from data, in order to make clever predictions. It currently manifests in the form of things like smart image recognition systems, spam filtering and quasi-artificial-intelligence virtual assistants.

“We're already seeing so-called assistants making their way into core areas of iOS itself--most prominently in the new iOS 10 iMessage and Photos refresh--so it's not unrealistic to imagine a near-future App Store assistant that learns from user behavior to deliver customized recommendations, intelligently surfacing new apps based on behavior patterns or even conversations with others,” Sensor Tower said.